Essay Preview: Alzheimers Disease

The entire population all over the world is speedily aging as those with dementia expected to increase in number from approximately 30 million currently to 60 million by the year 2030.A huge population is presently living Alzheimer’s disease which is the greatest typical origin of dementia. Health service providers will come across many aged people with dementia increasingly during their profession. It is of great importance to have a comprehensive understanding of Alzheimer’s diseases because it has several implications on our society. The general public and Medical students should have a good knowledge on neurobiological as well as clinical aspects of Alzheimer’s disease Information on its diagnosis and development of novel therapies is important.

One of the websites I have chosen (http://www.msrj.chm.msu.edu/fall-2014-24/) is meant for health professionals because it is an article that provides experimental and neurobiological features of Alzheimer’s disease that every medical students ought to be conversant with. The other website I have referenced is meant for consumers because it emphasizes on how people should deal loved ones if concerns of memory loss arise. It explains the signs and symptoms of the disease and directs what should be done for those with the disease include caregiving. The two websites have great information for anybody to know what Alzheimer’s disease is.

Dr. Alzheimer described dementia initially, which was later named Alzheimer’s disease. In a conference lecture in 1906, Alois Alzheimer explained a case of a woman aged 51 who had a ‘strange disease’ associated with the cerebral cortex ("Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia). The woman experienced memory and speech loss, paranoia, disorientation and psychological impairment. Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition affecting the brain which is mostly associated with the aged and results in a condition termed as dementia; a clinical syndrome that causes degradation of intellectual capability. Several cerebral capacities such as diligence, logistics, language, coordination and memory are weakened or completely damaged. In individuals affected by dementia, cerebral impairments come along with changes in a person’s character, emotional control as well as social behaviors. All these effects of Alzheimer’s disease interferes with the person’s capability to perform any kind of task. There are different causes of dementia, including reversible dementias and irreversible dementias originators. Alzheimer’s disease is the major originator of dementia. It doesn’t have a single known cause but it is affiliated with reversible and non-reversible risk factors which are linked to its development. Chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease increase logarithmically with age. This renders age to be the most significant risk factor. Some genetic mutations are said to cause Alzheimer’s disease. Other circumstances which one is at risk of developing the disease is having a family history of the disease, history of head injury, smoking, being overweight, high blood pressure and hypertension. Most individuals with mild-cognitive impairment syndrome develop Alzheimer’s disease.

The symptoms come gradually as a gentle memory loss and onset of irrational behavior. The symptoms can be divided into three categories. The first phase involves speech impairment, loss of ability to recognize objects, and basic motor skills impairment without any psychological elucidation. In the second phase symptoms, the patient may experience several psychiatric signs as well as behavioral changes which include depression, changes in personality, fantasy, phantasm, hallucination and misapprehension. The third and the final stage involves a situation where the sufferer requires the attention of a caregiver. There are difficulties of coordinating basic daily activities such as dressing, use of phone and walking among others.

The best diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is by autopsy pathological evaluation. Establishing a definite diagnosis and the stage of the disease is based on availability and spread of the amyloid plaques as well neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) ("Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia). Clinical diagnosis involves checking medical history and physical as well as neurological examinations and testing of mood while ignoring other etiologies by applying discriminative ancillary testing. Clinical diagnosis has higher accuracy compared pathological diagnosis. In a case where the patient’s cerebral impairment is thought to originate from other causes, a diagnosis is recommended to check for possible Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to laboratory studies, neuroimaging is used to exclude brain lesion while pinpointing reversible originators of dementia. The laboratory studies recommended for dementia diagnostic examination of a patient are serum B12 and thyrotropin among others. Structural magnetic resonance (MRI) or brain imaging and blood tests can be done to eliminate hydrocephalus, cerebrovascular lesions and cerebral hematoma as well as other conditions which have symptoms similar to those of dementia.